Salaries in Higher Education Systems: A System-wide Perspective on Career Advancement and Gender Equity

Abstract

Despite gains in academic participation, women still face gender disparity in salary among Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. Although this finding is prevalent across the literature, most studies have been conducted within a single institution or field. Here, we determine the extent to which gender inequality in salaries exists across STEM faculty of a regental state system in the Midwestern United States. Salaries of STEM faculty across nine years were collected from the six state institutions within that regental system. Controlling for rank, year, and length of service, female STEM faculty earned significantly less than their male counterparts and these disparities were evident even within the first year of service. As percentage-based increases in salary will not remove the existing gender-based inequity among salaries, other system-wide policies are likely needed to address current levels of gender inequity.

Comparative analysis of gender disparity in academic positions based on U.S. region and STEM discipline

“…For instance, hiring practices for STEM tenure track jobs can be biased against women with the use of masculine wording in job advertisements [ 9 , 10 ] and biases in the evaluation of job candidates; even when candidates’ qualifications are identical, male candidates are selected for interviews and job offers more often by hiring committees [ 1 , 11 ]. When offered jobs, women are offered lower start-up packages [ 9 , 10 ] and lower salaries than their male counterparts [ 12 ]. Job offers (including start-up packages and salary) are thought to be lower as women are less likely to negotiate [ 13 , 14 ], particularly when they are negotiating with men [ 15 ].…”